The Chinese government has set aside a budget of US$2.39 million (about 80 million baht) for the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) to support seven Thai university projects related to the Mekong River, deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek says. Ms Rachada on Friday revealed that the cabinet on Thursday gave the green light to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation on Mekong projects: the Lancang Cooperation Special Fund 2021 conducted between MHESI and the Chinese embassy in Thailand. In steering the project, the Chinese government has decided to subsidise the projects under the MoU this year, Ms Rachada said. Just under $340,000 was injected into a breeding development project for aquatic animals of Suranaree University of Technology. The Chinese government also gave $479,000 to Geo-Informatics and Space Technology to develop a tracking system and assess the amounts of productivity of the cash crops in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, she said.
